1. Field
This invention is in the field of tape dispensers, more particularly, warning tape dispensers.
2. State of the Art
Police, fire fighters, and construction people use warning (or caution) tape to "rope" out people from hazardous areas. Warning tapes are rolled up within themselves without benefit of a spool. Dispensing warning tape without a spool is difficult and awkward to accomplish.
There are tape dispensing devices which have been developed in the past. Willoughby, U.S. Pat. No. 5,641,109, discloses a belt-mounted tape dispenser.
Other prior art provide for dispensing other types of material. Sato, U.S. Pat. No. 1,990,135, provides a wire handling device. Crandall, U.S. Pat. No. 1,896,741, discloses a carrying reel for fishing line. Gerould, U.S. Pat. No. 1,554,082, discloses a twine holder. Fullington, U.S. Pat. No. 1,447,538, provides a tension device for rope making machines. Vannatta, U.S. Pat. No. 4,46,487, discloses a wire reel for taking up wire from temporary fences and unreeling wire for the erection of fences.
Warning (or caution) tapes are manufactured in rolls. Of the known prior art, there have been no devices which have been invented to dispense and carry warning tapes, probably because it would be necessary to unroll the tape first and then to reroll it onto a dispensing device. Further, no tape dispensing device has been designed that provides for retractable cylinders, which act in concert as a spindle, to allow tape to be mounted for dispensing without having to unroll and to reroll the tape first.